FOREVER and EVER, my periods have been 26 to 28 days apart (without the pill). In June, the gap was 37 days, followed by a normal 26 days, and now nothing after 43 days!!!!

Those of you who have hit menopause, is this how it started?

I KNOW this is supposed to be "a new door opening" and a "time to throw caution to the wind and be myself", but I can't believe how emotionally unprepared I am for this, if it is truly menopause.

The 49th birthday already had me thinking way too much about mortality and making things count. This is the icing on the cake. Rats.

Thoughts?

I wish I were in perimenopause. Sigh.

Sigh, me too :wink_smile:. I think I've got another 10 years of this misery to go though - 45 years in total (10-55) will be too damn much!

Ok, I went from skipping my TOM to having a 2 week TOM. You know, I really wish for the days that doctors would do a hysterectomy without much provocation. I would have had one 15 years ago.

I have not had a period since June... at first I thought it was stress... then I thought it was coming ANY day now... now it is the end of Sept and it is still missing.

I am not not pregnant... they took the test prior to surgery.

This may be it.... My mother went throught menopause at 42... I just turned 42 Sept 10th.

What do you think?????????????????????

My periods came a year apart for a few years starting before I was 50. then I started getting horrible hot flashes, so bad that I'd get tunnel vision and nausea. I thought they were low blood sugar episodes. Doc put me on hormone pills and haven't had them since. Best thing I ever did.

I would be a crazy person without my hormones.

I went into menopause when I was 41. My mum went into menopause when she was 39. She had her last period 6 weeks after my kid brother was born and that was the end of it for her. She took no HRT and lived to be 87.

I am not on HRT. I tried it briefly about 3 years after my periods stopped but I didn't enjoy getting my periods again; I am one of those women who always had bad periods. I did have a lot of hot flashes for a number of years after I stopped getting my period. The hot flashes were a real drag but then so was getting my period.

My periods were never a big deal. They came and left in 3 days and I barely knew I had them. All the effects of menopause have been much worse.

It's weird how some people have horrible periods, and some people have a horrible time with menopause.

My periods were never a big deal. They came and left in 3 days and I barely knew I had them. All the effects of menopause have been much worse.

It's weird how some people have horrible periods, and some people have a horrible time with menopause.

Ugh! Mine periods were horrible. A couple of days of insanity followed by 24 hours of terrible cramps and diarhea. And I started really young. I turned 10 in July and got my first period at the beginning of September. Because I never wanted children I thought that all this suffering was most unfair and I was always trying to find a doc who would remove the apparatus that was causing me so much grief. I was relieved when I crashed into an early menopause. So relieved that I refused HRT for the first five years, then tried it for a couple of years in my late 40s before going back off of it. With menopause I did suffer from hot flashes for about a decade and I do have osteopenia. You are lucky that your periods were/are easy.

Menopause is the absence of menstrual periods for 12 months, and starts with varying menstrual cycle lengths and ends with the final menstrual cycle. This is a very basic explanation of menopause. Perimenopause is a time of transition to actual menopause. There are any number of websites one could go to for more information. I got this from MedicineNet.com.

I guess I could say I'm perimenopausal. I'm 46 years old, and on my way! ANYWAY, as for TOMs, I don't have the flow. I had what is called an endometrial ablation done about four years ago. My TOMs were HEAVY, and quite painful. My gynecologist performed this procedure, in which the lining of the uterus is cauterized {or "burned" off}, instead of a hysterectomy. It's not a procedure for anyone wanting to get pregnant. I still have "all the stuff", but I haven't had to buy a feminine hygiene product since about a month after the procedure, and I SO TOTALLY LOVE not having to do so.

Edited January 13, 200917 yr by cierra'sgrandma
had a couple of words spelled wrong

There is a great website that deals with hysterectomy, menopause, hormones and all that goes along with it. Check it out. www.hystersisters.com

And, for anyone who thinks a hysterectomy rules out menopause... sorry! If you keep your ovaries you can still have menopause symptoms when your ovaries "play out". If they take your ovaries, you will be in instant menopause, and can have all the symptoms. :thumbup:

I have a co-worker who swears by don quai (not sure on the spelling but pronounced Don Qui, long "I" sound) for period issues but expecially menapause symptoms.

She swears she had no hot flashes, no hormonal rages or anything. But I swear she's stuck in permanent PMS, or maybe she's just a bitch, hmm, don't know. LOL

when you get to perimenopause or whatever..does it seem to have an effect on houw your band reacts to food? Or when it is time for your period? Im not retaining extra fluid, it just seems like the band has gotten tighter since starting to experience some of these symptoms and Im wondering if its just coincidence

It's weird how some people have horrible periods, and some people have a horrible time with menopause.

I was one of those with horrible periods. I started two months after my 11th birthday and missed a day of school/work every month with cramps and nausea. It died down after I had my kids. So far perimenpause hasn't been too bad. I've only really missed one period so far and the worst part was the vaginal dryness.

Hey Ladies,

I think I'm in perimenopause - I've just turned 46 and in the last year, my periods have gone from every-28-days-you-can-set-your-clock-by-them to come-when-they-wanna and skip-when-they-wanna...it's really quite strange.

I used to be able to tell absolutely by the full moon when my period was coming, no longer. Funny enough, I had more hot flashes / night sweats BEFORE I was banded than since. Since being banded I am cold all the time - it's way too weird.

I hope it's moving into full fledged menopause - I don't know if my timing is normal because my mom and my sister both had hysterectomies because of fibroid tumors. I have them too (making for some very heavy days and clots during my period) but so far no indication that surgery is definately in my future. I wouldn't necessarily mind if it is - I'm done having children (my youngest is 18) and don't want any more.